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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Students recount Canada protests

Five GW students encountered water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets as they protested alongside about 40,000 anarchists, socialists, union members and students from Canada and the United States outside the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada, last weekend.

“It was the greatest experience of my life,” sophomore Bernard Pollack, a member of the GW Action Coalition, said Monday.

Leaders from 34 countries agreed at the summit to open up their borders to free trade by 2005.

“We didn’t stop them from signing the agreement, but we have raised people’s consciousness,” Pollack said. “When viewers see 35,000 people fighting against an illegal wall on TV and putting their bodies on the line, they will start to understand what we are fighting for.”

Calling the protesters the “wall of shame,” Canadian police constructed a chain-link fence around the conference building, which protesters attempted to break through, said sophomore Eleiza Braun, who joined the GW group in Canada.

The group of GW students, all members of the GWAC, described the police response as “chemical warfare,” and said the Quebec City protests were more violent than last spring’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund protests in D.C.

“(The police) ruled as they saw fit and suspended laws,” Braun said. “They built a wall between the protesters and the building, (an act) which was even condemned by four leaders at the conference.”

Students described police action as “indiscriminate and brutal” and said police officers shot rubber bullets at protesters at close range, sending many demonstrators to the hospital.

Braun said the group neither condemns nor condones the use of violence in the Canada protests, where people threw bricks and attempted to break through police lines.

“(Violence) is a tactic, and the strength of the protests are often defined by police response,” she said.

Braun and freshman Katharine Bloeser and Susan Sims said they experienced pain and queasiness after police countered protesters with tear gas and other chemicals. Braun said she coughed up blood after being gassed and wished she had brought a gas mask.

Group members vowed to continue their fight and said they are organizing to protest outside the World Bank and IMF buildings in D.C. for meetings next weekend. Braun said protestors are fighting for a number of issues including debt cancellation for third-world countries, human rights and environmental concerns.

GW Director of Media Relations Gretchen King said about 3,000 people applied for a permit to protest this weekend, and the administration is sending an e-mail to students today warning students of the planned protests.

Pollack, who is originally from Canada, said he was proud to see passionate demonstrations, adding that America has a lot of catching up to do in terms of its activism.

Students said protesting was the only option to get their message across.

“People ask me, `why can’t you write a letter?'” Braun said. “But the leaders aren’t listening and direct action like blockading is our last resort.”

“If I had half a million dollars I could have had a seat at the meeting but I don’t, and protesting is the most I can do,” said freshman Seth Jacobs, who also participated in the protest.

The GW group slept on the floor of an elderly French-Canadian woman’s home and in other groups’ vans for three days in Quebec City. The students said the Canadians were hospitable to them.

The students said the protests received substantial national media attention, but their goals were often misrepresented.

“We are not against fair trade, but there is a difference between the current globalization and ethical globalization,” Bloeser said. “Corporations are getting their way and imposing sweatshop conditions on workers of other countries and we want our voice to be heard that we don’t approve.”

Pollack said he disagrees with President George W. Bush’s public statement asking protesters to sit down and talk with the leaders as opposed to voicing their concerns through violence.

“How are they building democracy and consensus through closed-door meetings?” Pollack asked. “When would we realistically ever be able to meet with all the leaders?”

The group said shutting down the World Bank and IMF meeting scheduled to take place in D.C. next October is the biggest initiative on their agenda. Group members said the fall protests will rival the ones that took place last April that forced GW to cancel class for a day.

The students said they intend to ask the Student Association to issue a resolution that would allow students to house protesters – something that was prohibited last year.

“GW used to be the center of activism, and we need to live up to the traditions,” Braun said. “But we are seeing activism is growing, and students who were not aware of the issues before are now coming to our meetings.”

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